Taima is flying high after bringing home the Juno award for Aboriginal Recording of the Year. Elisapie Isaac and Alain Auger make up the multiethnic duo that won the award for their self-titled debut album. It was presented at the annual Saturday night gala at the Winnipeg Convention Centre, on Saturday, April 2.
“I was happy and excited when we won the Juno,” said Isaac. “I was really proud standing next to all the great Native artists who were nominated. I was also proud of their work.”
Isaac told the Nation that they’ve received a lot of support from Quebec. “It’s very, very nice to have the support from the province of Quebec and nice to get the acknowledgement from the industry,” said Isaac. “It was flattering and I’m proud of the accomplishment!”
Their name – which means, loosely translated,
“Enough! It’s over, let’s move on” – certainly rings true as they hope
to move on from this win to bigger and better things. “We’re booked for another year in Quebec and throughout Canada,” Isaac notes.
After success at the mammoth Glastonbury Festival in England, Taima still remembers where they come from. “Our main goal is to establish an audience in Canada, it’s very important to us,” she said.
The other nominees included Cree singer/songwriter Wayne Lavallee, for Green Dress, Kashtin alumni Claude McKenzie, for Pishimuss, Six Nations, Ontario blues band Pappy Johns Band with Murray Porter, for Full Circle, and the mellow half of the Kashtin duo Florent Voilant, for KATAKu.
The beginnings of Taima are described on their website:
“Folk music, for the unparalleled emotions and beautiful sense of intimacy it carries, strongly attracted Elisapie. Her interest in this genre revived her singing ambitions, pushed her to write songs and to seek a musician who would add dimension to her words. In July, 2000 she found Alain Auger.”
The multi-talented Isaac won another award of a different colour in 2001. She took home the Fourth “First Nations Filmmaker” Award presented by the National Film Board of Canada that allowed her to direct Sila piqujipat (If The Weather Permits), a short film that premiered worldwide in March 2003.
At press time, Taima was slated to play Nunavik and Iqaluit, return to Montreal for a bit and then hit the Gaspe for another concert.
